When The Lights Go Out
by SugarSweets
Summary: A glance here and there, and thoughts running through their minds, but will they finally realize their true feelings and acknowledge the relationship that has been under the surface for years. GSR and WCR First Fic! Please R & R
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own CSI: Crime Scene Investigation nor it's characters

**Author's Note:** First Fan Fic. Read and review, feedback would be nice

When the Lights Go Out

As he laid alone in the dark, he couldn't help but let the events of the past 72 hours run through his head. Warrick had serious decisions to make.

As she stepped into the darkened living room, a small body flung herself at her mother and pulled her into a hug, happy that she was back home. But even her daughter's hug couldn't shake away the feeling that something was missing from her life.

Sara walked into her dark apartment relieved that the case was coming to an end and justice would once again prevail. But after the initial feeling of relief, loneliness set in. She picked up the phone and dialed a long-ago memorized number, waiting for the voice she so craved to hear.

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3 days ago…

Warrick was just climbing out of his vehicle when he spotted Catherine walking into the lab just ahead of him. "Hey Cath, wait up! " he called, jogging to catch her. It wasn't that he had anything completely insightful to tell her, he just liked her company.

"Hi Warrick, how was your weekend?"

They chatted easily as they walked into the locker room, but stopped short in surprise when they realized that they were the last to arrive, which was quite unusual. Grissom was already handing out assignments for the night. "Catherine, Warrick, you two go with Sara, she'll brief you on the way, and Nick and Greg, let's go."

"So Sara, what've we got?" Warrick asked as they jumped into the Denali.

"We've got a triple in front of the Bellagio hotel," Sara said handing the assignment slip over to Warrick as they pulled into the car-park.

They could see the lights flashing as they pulled in. They jumped out of the Denali and grabbed their kits ready to get to work. Before they could start processing, however, they went to find Brass. Brass saw them coming and disentangled himself from the mass of his police officers to come and discuss the situation before them - a gruesome scene that just happened to be all in a day's work.

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As they stepped under the familiar yellow police tape, they were confronted with three bodies sprawled on the pavement. Two females and one male, each lying in an almost identical pool of presumably their own blood.

Warrick began the processing with his camera, capturing the crime scene in as many angles and views as possible for documentation and future reference. Catherine followed Warrick over to the body he was photographing. A young women, estimated to be in her mid to late 20's, with short auburn hair was currently being examined by David, the assistant medical examiner. "What've we got, David?"

Meanwhile, Sara was marking evidence around the scene with yellow numbered tags, seeing something on the ground she reached down to place yet another tag.

Moving around the scene, finding himself waiting for Sara to finish placing evidence markers, Warrick glanced over to where Catherine was, and was once again amazed at her beauty and grace and she wandered around the crime scene.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own CSI: Crime Scene Investigation nor it's characters

**Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews! Getting reviews was definitely the highlight of my day. Here is Chapter 2, hope you enjoy. I am hoping for more reviews – they make my day : )

At the other crime scene, Grissom, Nick, and Greg were investigating a dead body abandoned in an alley. Grissom was fighting to keep his mind on the scene in front of him, but he was losing the battle miserably. He couldn't help but keep remembering the look of disappointment when he assigned Sara to the other crime scene. That look was etched in his brain and he was now sorry that he had split them up. He wanted to eliminate distractions for a while, because lately, Sara was the only thing he could think about. However, his decision hadn't worked the way he planned - his thoughts were more on her now than they were before.

Nick and Greg were also having a hard time paying attention to the scene - however, for a completely different reason. They couldn't help but notice the far away glazed look in Grissom's eyes as he worked. Exchanging glances, they both wondered what was on Grissom's mind - Grissom rarely ever got distracted.

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Several hours later, after collecting all evidence at each of the crime scenes, the shift was coming to an end. With both teams now back at the lab, all evidence was safely secured, to be processed the following day. Catherine was the first to enter the break room, followed closely by Warrick and Sara. Each went to their own locker and started collecting their belongings before heading home for the day. Grabbing her coat and her purse, Catherine waved goodbye to Sara and Warrick and stepped into the hall, almost running right into Nick who was on his way in. Catching her shoulder before they both fell to the floor, Nick grinned. "In some kind of hurry or something Cath?"

"Always," Catherine said returning Nick's grin, "I wanted to catch Lindsey before she was off to school."

"Ah, well then, see you later"

Stepping into the bright sunlight, and seeing her car exactly where she left it the night before, she started walking over to it. Hearing the door behind her open once again, she turned ever so slightly to see that it was Warrick on his way out. Glancing at him as he walked towards his car in the other direction, Catherine had that familiar flutter of attraction. Catching herself staring intently at Warrick, Catherine shifted her attention back to her car. Getting in, she took one last glance over towards Warrick's car, fighting that persistent flutter in her stomach, and drove off towards home.

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Sara was just getting ready to leave for the day, when Grissom walked into the break room. Not quite sure if he wanted to talk to her, or was simply getting coffee, she said nothing. But as the uncomfortable silence progressed, Sara let her mind wander. She couldn't help but think about the last few weeks. She had barely heard a thing from him outside of work - and even then that was strictly work related chat. It had also been quite a while since they had even actually worked together on a case. It seemed that Grissom was deliberately assigning her different cases. She was frankly very close to giving up on him altogether. She couldn't continue to let herself become vulnerable and think she had any kind of chance, only to be shot down time and time again.

Standing there uncomfortably for what felt like hours, Sara finished collecting her belongings. She was still unsure as to what Grissom wanted, but decided that the awkwardness was closing in and she just had to get out. Fighting back the urge to burst out in uncalled for laughter at the shear awkward scene playing in front of her eyes, Sara slammed her locker door shut. A half smile played on her lips as she started walking. Deciding it would be rude to not say anything to Grissom at all, she called her goodbye over her shoulder. "Bye, Grissom, see you later!" And out into the bright sunlight she walked, shaking her head in disbelief.

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Standing in the now empty break room, Grissom's hung his head. He knew he had just missed an opportunity to talk to Sara - to say something, anything to her. Standing rooted to the spot, he just couldn't go after her, fully knowing that he could probably catch her before she left the lab. He had blown it and was unsure as to whether she would even give him another chance after everything he had done, or in his case - not done.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, nor it's characters

**Author's Note:** Thanks again for the reviews, they make my day which keeps me happy. I know this is kind of a short chapter, but I wanted to update this. Enjoy.

After an extremely tiring day, Warrick just wanted to sleep. Flopping onto his bed and turning out the light, all he wanted to do was sleep. Closing his eyes, instead of seeing darkness, he saw Catherine's face flash before his eyes. He thought that only he had feelings for Catherine, but after catching her watching him today after shift, he wasn't quite as sure anymore.

Finally making it home, she was glad to see that Lindsey hadn't left for school yet. Walking inside and up the stairs, she found Lindsey in her bedroom just grabbing her schoolbag. Standing by the door watching her daughter, she realized just how much Lindsey looked like her. Her daughter looked up and shot her mother one of her famous innocent smiles. Giving her mother a quick hug she ran down the stairs and out the door. Left on her own, Catherine, now feeling fatigue, went into her bedroom and sat on the bed. Kicking off her shoes, not caring if she was fully dressed, she closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to come. Her last fleeting thought before falling into a peaceful slumber, was how much she wished Warrick had the same feelings that she did.

Walking into her apartment, Sara was overcome with exhaustion. Dropping her bag on the kitchen counter, she walked into her bedroom and collapsed on the bed. Throwing off her jacket, shoes, and other articles of clothing, she laid back ready to let sleep take over. Sleep, however, was elusive for the moment, waiting for her mind to wander, meanly allowing her to think about her relationship, or lack thereof, with Grissom. Knowing that she had done so much to try to get the relationship started and he had done nothing in return, upset her, even if she would never admit it to him. Mercifully her eyes closed lazily and her breathing steadied to a slow rhythmic rise and fall of her chest.

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2 days ago…

After parking his car, Warrick stepped out into the fading sunlight. Tilting his face upwards, he savored the feel of the sun on his face. However, realizing that he would be late if he stayed there much longer, he reluctantly continued walking into the lab. Walking into the break room, he found that he oddly enough wasn't the last to arrive like he expected to be. Nick, who was the only one in the break room, was patiently waiting for the rest of the team to arrive before they could all get started processing their cases. "Hey, Nick, what's up?"

"Hey, Warrick, not a whole lot, how was your day?"

"Spent sleeping. Yesterday was quite an exhausting one"

"I know what you mean."

At that moment, Catherine walked in. Warrick glanced towards the door as he heard it open and just couldn't pull his eyes away. He was mesmerized by her - her understated grace, beauty, and the way she exuded confidence. But quickly realizing that he wasn't alone and that he was staring at her, he tore his eyes away and blushed furiously. Luckily for him, Catherine appeared to have noticed nothing. On the other hand, Nick was watching him with quite the smirk on his face. "Uh, hey, Cath, " Warrick managed to choke out.

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Sitting in his office, Grissom was trying to do some paperwork that was piling up on his desk. Picking up the top file on the stack, he opened it and set it on the desk. Staring blankly at the file, Grissom's mind started to wander. He was thinking about Sara of course, and how he was really starting to mess up this "relationship." He knew he had to do something about his feelings, but the problem was that he had such a hard time admitting them. But he knew in his heart that it was only fair that he admitted them to Sara, and even more importantly, himself.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I do not own CSI: Crime Scene investigation nor it's characters

**Author's Note: **Thanks for reading and the reviews! Sorry this has taken me soo long to update – I've been super busy and to top things off had a tough case of writer's block. Hope you enjoy and I can't wait for reviews – they make me happy : )

Everyone was sitting patiently in the break room when Grissom entered. Waiting for Grissom's daily talk, the team was disappointed. Grissom simply walked in and told them to continue their cases and left again without another word. With confused looks on each of their faces, and an exchange of glances between various members of the team, they each got up and went their separate ways - each with their own take on what was on Grissom's mind, recently and today.

After listening to Grissom's morning "talk", Sara was a bit concerned. She had never seen Grissom act so distracted before. Usually, Grissom would throw himself into his work in order to avoid any kind of personal questions or just talk in general. Today however, it was like he was allowing the team to see how distracted he had become and allowing them to see a part of him that was rarely shown. Thinking back to the last few days, even weeks, she realized that Grissom was definitely not acting like himself.

Deciding that working on her case was more important than wasting precious minutes mulling over Grissom's personal life when he seemingly didn't care about hers, Sara dismissed the thoughts swirling around in her head. Heading over to see Greg in the lab to get some results, she wasn't surprised to find that she was going to have to wait her turn due to the influx of samples to be analyzed.

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The night seemed to pass in a haze of evidence analysis and various lab settings. It seemed that the night shift was over and an entire mountain of evidence still had to be processed from each of the cases. Each member of the team was hoping for a major breakthrough in their case, and so far none had come. Another busy day was over, and another was coming up.

Coming back from the DNA lab after receiving results, Sara, Warrick, and Catherine entered the break room. Walking to their respective lockers, they were each silent hoping to remember something that they had missed. Knowing that there must be something missing, but unable to think of what that something was, identical dejected expressions could be seen of the three CSI's. The results that they had just gotten weren't particularly helpful and they desperately needed something to come through to break their case. Gathering her things quickly, Sara shut her locker with a snap and walked towards the door. With a half-hearted smile and goodbye, she stepped out into the hallway.

Grissom was just heading back into his office when he heard a door open and close behind him. Turning towards the noise, he saw a wave of shoulder length brown hair and a slender body step out of the doorway and continue down the hall towards the bright sunlight that was pouring through the glass entrance. Grissom stood by the door to his office just wishing that he could muster up the courage to act normally around her once again - wishing even more that he could finally say what he had wanted to say all along.

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Returning home, exhausted after another long day at the lab, Warrick could do no more than collapse on his bed without another thought.

Calmly walking in the front door, Catherine was quite surprised as a brightly dressed child bounced into the room full of energy. Running towards the door, and coincidently her mother, Lindsey gave her mom a quick hug and continued her sprint out the door and off to school. Chuckling at her daughter's quick departure, Catherine continued up the stairs and into her bedroom. Feeling exhaustion set in, she quickly changed and curled up under the comforter. Fleetingly wishing that she wasn't curling up alone, Catherine immediately fell asleep.

Sara walked into her dark apartment feeling utterly alone. Having worked mostly by herself all day on the case, Sara was craving human contact. She dropped her bag on the counter and glanced around the room. Her eyes finally settled on the sleek white object. Wandering over to it, she picked it up. Her finger was poised over the keypad, but she just couldn't bring herself to start dialing. She was desperate to talk to him, but somehow all she could think about was the betrayal she felt. He was still avoiding her and that hurt. Shaking her head, she placed the phone back where she found it, ignoring the urge to call.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I do not own CSI: Crime Scene investigation nor it's characters

**Author's Note:** I have to apologize to you for taking a REALLY long time in updating. I've been super busy lately and having trouble trying to figure out a good ending. Hope you enjoyed this. Feedback would be really nice. Thanks: )

Earlier that day…

Walking into the building, Warrick was granted relief from the undeniably hot, humid day. Grateful for the air conditioning buzzing away steadily, Warrick walked towards the break room. Walking into the break room, he was happy to see that Catherine was already there.

Hearing the door open, Catherine turned to see who it was. "Hey Warrick," she greeted him, her face breaking out into a big smile. "How are you?"

"Hey Cath, I'm okay, what about you, how was your night?"

"Honestly, the only thing I could manage was to crash into bed."

Chuckling Warrick answered, "Me too"

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Sara was feeling really distracted this morning as she drove into work. Thoughts of her "relationship" with Grissom kept swirling around in her mind and she was beginning to get even more confused about things. She knew that she was over-analyzing the situation but she just couldn't help it. She was continuously trying to put her mind at rest, but it was useless. She needed to address the situation with Grissom and it just couldn't wait any longer. Being distracted all the time was jeopardizing her work - she couldn't concentrate and whenever Grissom was around she was even more jumpy. She was just struggling to get through each and every day, and today would be no different.

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Grissom had been at the lab for hours already, and had hardly got any work done. He couldn't keep his mind from wandering to thoughts of Sara and what he knew he was doing to her. He knew it was unfair to continue this way and knew he had to fix things whether they turned out good or bad. He could only hope for the former, but as a scientist he had to keep both possibilities in his mind. He had however accomplished something during the afternoon - he had decided that he was finally going to talk to Sara tonight. It had to be tonight because he just didn't know how much longer he could keep going on like this, he also knew he couldn't expect Sara to continue waiting for him much longer.

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Another day at the lab passed by in a flurry of activity as each CSI had finally solved their ongoing cases. Each was relieved their case has been broken, and each also anticipated the night to come.

As she stepped into the darkened living room, a small body flung herself at her mother and pulled her into a hug, happy that she was back home. But even her daughter's hug couldn't shake away the feeling that something was missing from her life. She knew who she hoped would fill the void right now, but she still couldn't be sure he felt the same way.

As he laid alone in the dark, he couldn't help but let the events of the past 72 hours run through his head. Warrick had serious decisions to make. Deciding that he would just go out on a limb and hope that she felt the same way, Warrick picked up the phone. He dialed her number fleetingly hoping that this was the right decision.

"Hello?" Catherine answered breathlessly.

"Hi, it's Warrick. You sound out of breath…"

"I've been chasing Lindsey around for the last half an hour, you would be out of breath too. I hate to admit it, but I've been thinking about you a lot lately. I'm glad you called."

"Me too."

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Sara walked into her dark apartment relieved that the case was coming to an end and justice would once again prevail. But after the initial feeling of relief, loneliness set in. She picked up the phone and dialed a long-ago memorized number, waiting for the voice she so craved to hear. She just couldn't wait any longer and was hoping that he felt the same.

"Hello?" Grissom's hollow voice answered.

"Hi, it's me. I just miss you and had to talk to you," she blurted out.

"I've been meaning to talk to you for some time too. I miss you too, but more importantly, I love you."

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The End


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